STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
6401--A
2023-2024 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
April 18, 2023
___________
Introduced by Sen. JACKSON -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
printed to be committed to the Committee on Civil Service and Pensions
-- recommitted to the Committee on Civil Service and Pensions in
accordance with Senate Rule 6, sec. 8 -- committee discharged, bill
amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said commit-
tee
AN ACT to amend the retirement and social security law, in relation to
overtime ceilings for correction officers who are members of certain
retirement plans
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Section 501 of the retirement and social security law is
2 amended by adding a new subdivision 29 to read as follows:
3 29. "Correction officer" shall mean, notwithstanding any provision of
4 law to the contrary, any member who is employed by a county and is
5 charged with the duty of maintaining the custody and supervision of
6 persons detained or confined in a local correctional facility as defined
7 in subdivision sixteen of section two of the correction law.
8 § 2. Subdivision 24 of section 501 of the retirement and social secu-
9 rity law is amended by adding a new paragraph (g) to read as follows:
10 (g) For a county that has elected to provide the benefits of this
11 paragraph by adopting a resolution to such effect and filing a certified
12 copy thereof with the comptroller, notwithstanding the provisions of
13 paragraph (c) and subparagraph (a) of paragraph (e) of this subdivision,
14 commencing on January first, two thousand twenty-five "overtime ceiling"
15 for any member who is employed as a correction officer shall mean the
16 greater of: (i) the overtime ceiling as defined in this subdivision; or
17 (ii) thirty percent of the regular compensation earned by and paid to
18 such member by a public employer for such member's service as a
19 correction officer.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD09748-08-4
S. 6401--A 2
1 § 3. Section 601 of the retirement and social security law is amended
2 by adding a new subdivision n to read as follows:
3 n. "Correction officer" shall mean, notwithstanding any provision of
4 law to the contrary, any member who is employed by a county and, is
5 charged with the duty of maintaining the custody and supervision of
6 persons detained or confined in a local correctional facility as defined
7 in subdivision sixteen of section two of the correction law.
8 § 4. Subdivision l of section 601 of the retirement and social securi-
9 ty law is amended by adding a new paragraph (e) to read as follows:
10 (e) For a county that has elected to provide the benefits of this
11 paragraph by adopting a resolution to such effect and filing a certified
12 copy thereof with the comptroller, notwithstanding the provisions of
13 paragraph (c) and subparagraph one of paragraph (d) of this subdivision,
14 commencing on January first, two thousand twenty-five "overtime ceiling"
15 for any member who is employed as a correction officer shall mean the
16 greater of: (i) the overtime ceiling as defined in this subdivision; or
17 (ii) thirty percent of the regular compensation earned by and paid to
18 such member by a public employer for such member's service as a
19 correction officer.
20 § 5. Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, none of the
21 provisions of this act shall be subject to the appropriation requirement
22 of section 25 of the retirement and social security law.
23 § 6. All past service costs incurred with implementing the provisions
24 of this act shall be borne by any county that elects to provide the
25 benefits provided by this act.
26 § 7. This act shall take effect immediately.
FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
This bill would allow county employers to elect to provide correction
officers with an increased limit on the overtime compensation included
in the final average salary calculation beginning January 1, 2025. The
improved limit would be thirty percent of a member's annual wages, if
greater than the limit. Current limits were set at $15,000 at the incep-
tion of each tier, with the Tier 5 limit increasing 3% annually and the
Tier 6 limit increasing annually with inflation.
If this bill is enacted during the 2024 Legislative Session, we antic-
ipate that there will be an increase in the annual contributions of any
electing county of 0.4% of affected correction officers' salary for Tier
5 and 1.0% of affected correction officers' salary for Tier 6 for the
fiscal year ending March 31, 2025. In future years, this cost will vary
as the billing rates and salary of the affected members change.
In addition to the annual contributions discussed above, there will be
an immediate past service cost of approximately 5.4% of affected
correction officers' salary, which will be borne by any electing county
as a one-time payment. This estimate assumes that payment will be made
on February 1, 2025.
Further, we anticipate administrative costs to implement the
provisions of this legislation.
The exact number of current members as well as future members who
could be affected by this legislation cannot be readily determined.
Prior to electing to provide these benefits, an eligible county would be
required to submit a roster of individuals in covered titles to the New
York State and Local Retirement System. This roster would be used to
develop an exact cost for the individual county electing to provide
these benefits.
Summary of relevant resources:
S. 6401--A 3
Membership data as of March 31, 2023 was used in measuring the impact
of the proposed change, the same data used in the April 1, 2023 actuari-
al valuation. Distributions and other statistics can be found in the
2023 Report of the Actuary and the 2023 Annual Comprehensive Financial
Report.
The actuarial assumptions and methods used are described in the 2023
Annual Report to the Comptroller on Actuarial Assumptions, and the
Codes, Rules and Regulations of the State of New York: Audit and
Control.
The Market Assets and GASB Disclosures are found in the March 31, 2023
New York State and Local Retirement System Financial Statements and
Supplementary Information.
I am a member of the American Academy of Actuaries and meet the Quali-
fication Standards to render the actuarial opinion contained herein.
This fiscal note does not constitute a legal opinion on the viability
of the proposed change nor is it intended to serve as a substitute for
the professional judgment of an attorney.
This estimate, dated February 28, 2024, and intended for use only
during the 2024 Legislative Session, is Fiscal Note No. 2024-20,
prepared by the Actuary for the New York State and Local Retirement
System.
